A 49-year-old man, Akinola Olumide, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly collecting N9m from some intending travellers under the pretext of procuring visas for them.
Olumide was arraigned before a magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Olayinka, on 14 counts bordering on theft.
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Donjor Perezi, said the defendant committed the offence between December 2015 and December 2016 at several places, including the Ijaiye, Alagbado, Idimu and Ipaja areas of Lagos State.
He said Olumide collected money from the victims, telling them he could procure visas to North Cyprus and Macedonia for them. He was alleged to have fled with the money.
Perezi said the offences were punishable under sections 409, 317, 288, 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
The charges read in part, “That you, Akinola Olumide, and others at large, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did fraudulently obtain the sum of N2,659,000 from one Adebayo Benjamin, under the false pretences of procuring a North Cyrus travelling visa, a representation you knew to be false.”
Olumide pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the sum of N1.5m, with two sureties each in like sum.
The case was adjourned till October 2, 2017.
